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5 dead, 4 missing in C China mudslide

AS of Sunday afternoon, the death toll from a mudslide in central China's Hunan Province had risen to five, while another four people remain missing, according to local government.

Nineteen others were injured in the mudslide, which happened at about 4 p.m. Saturday in Zuta Village, Ningxiang County, after continuous heavy rain since Friday.

Many parts of the county received over 200 mm of precipitation within 24 hours, with flooding disrupting traffic and telecommunications and raising water levels in reservoirs and rivers above warning levels.

A rescue and search operation is underway.

Hunan has experienced a severe flooding after torrential rain over the last 10 days. Since June 22, flooding has inundated parts of several cities, forced 311,300 people to evacuate, damaged 295,160 hectares of crops and destroyed 6,369 houses.

On Sunday morning, the water level in the section of Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of Yangtze River, in the provincial capital Changsha had exceeded the previous record high of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998.

Already more than 3 meters above the warning level, the water level is expected to continue to rise as heavy rain is forecast for upstream regions over the next few days.

Meanwhile, the water levels in Dongting Lake and several other major rivers in Hunan have all risen above warning levels, worsening the flood control situation.

More than 2,000 paramilitary policemen joined locals to repair damaged dikes and helped over 7,000 people to be evacuated in cities of Shaoyang, Yiyang and Huaihua.




 

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